Graham Gouldman

Graham Keith Gouldman (born 10 May 1946) is an English musician. He is best known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the art rock band 10cc. He has been the band's only constant member since its formation in 1972. Before 10cc, Gouldman worked as a freelance songwriter and penned many hits for major rock and pop groups, including the Yardbirds, the Hollies, Herman's Hermits and Ohio Express.

Early life and 1960s pop career: 1946–1968 Gouldman was born in Broughton, Salford, Lancashire, into a Jewish family. He received his first guitar at the age of 11. In a 2025 interview he stated that from that point "music was it for (him)", adding that he was not academically gifted, which was recognised by his parents who encouraged his musical activities as "they recognised that songwriting is a gift and I was lucky enough to have it". Although Gouldman's father worked in the clothing industry, he was a keen amateur poet and playwright and advised him whilst he developed his songwriting craft. Gouldman was "barmitzvahed", and attended the synagogue growing up, "and then that gradually faded out, as it does with all Jewish boys." Considering that three of the 10cc songwriters were Jewish, the band jokingly referred to themselves as "three yids and a yok."

Gouldman played in a number of Manchester bands from 1963, including the High Spots, the Crevattes, the Planets and the Whirlwinds, which became a house band at his local Jewish Lads' Brigade. The Whirlwinds – comprising Gouldman (vocals, guitar), Maurice Sperling (vocals/drums), Bernard Basso (bass), Stephen Jacobson (guitar, bongos), Malcolm Wagner and Phil Cohen – secured a recording contract with His Master's Voice, releasing a recording of the Buddy Holly song "Look at Me", backed with "Baby Not Like You", written by future 10cc bandmate Lol Creme, on 22 May 1964.

Gouldman dissolved the Whirlwinds in late 1964, and the following February formed the Mockingbirds with Jacobson, Basso, and a former member of fellow Manchester band the Sabres, Kevin Godley (drums). The Mockingbirds signed with the Columbia label, which rejected Gouldman's first offering as a single – "For Your Love" (later a major hit for the Yardbirds) – and issued two singles, "That's How (It's Gonna Stay)" (February 1965, also issued in the US on ABC-Paramount) and "I Can Feel We're Parting" (May 1965). The band switched to the Immediate label for "You Stole My Love" (October 1965) and Decca for "One By One" (July 1966) and "How to Find a Lover" (October 1966).

The Mockingbirds also began a regular warm-up spot for BBC Television's Top of the Pops, transmitted from Manchester. He recalled: "There was one strange moment when the Yardbirds appeared on the show doing 'For Your Love', which was a song that I'd written. Everyone clamoured around them – and there I was just part of an anonymous group. I felt strange that night, hearing them play my song."

At the same time Gouldman signed a management agreement with Harvey Lisberg, and while working by day in a men's outfitters shop and playing by night with his semi-professional band, he wrote a string of hit songs, many of them million sellers. Between 1965 and 1967 alone, he wrote "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul" and "Evil Hearted You" for the Yardbirds; "Look Through Any Window" (with Charles Silverman) and "Bus Stop" for the Hollies; "Listen People", "No Milk Today" and "East West" for Herman's Hermits; "Pamela, Pamela" and "The Impossible Years" for Wayne Fontana; "Behind the Door" for St. Louis Union (later covered by Cher), "Tallyman" for Jeff Beck; and "Going Home", which was a 1967 Australian hit for Normie Rowe.

In 1966–67, Gouldman recorded singles with two other bands, High Society and the Manchester Mob, both of which featured singer Peter Cowap.

In March 1968, he stepped in as a temporary replacement for bassist Bob Lang in the Mindbenders, writing two of the band's final singles, "Schoolgirl" and "Uncle Joe, the Ice Cream Man". The band dissolved eight months later. Gouldman said his time with the band was depressing: "They were sliding down, they were pretty well finished by the time I joined them." Gouldman accepted. He recalled: "They wanted me to write and produce for them, so I figured, why not? Nothing else was happening for me at the time. All told I worked for them for three or four periods over the course of a year, just writing and recording, and had no time for anything else. I was totally involved in the whole Kasenetz-Katz thing while I was with them."

He said he was left exhausted and depressed by his dealings with Kasenetz and Katz. "In the mornings I would go into the office and start writing and after I had finished one song in a day, which was very high output for me, they'd come up to me and say: 'Give us another song!' And I'd say 'OK' – because I'm like that. They'd keep up the pressure so that I kept on writing. I was there in their offices working like that for six or eight weeks and when I flew home to Manchester I went straight round to see my doctor. I was feeling sick and could not eat. The doctor told me: 'You are totally over-worked.' I don't think I've ever felt so depressed as I did when I came back from New York."

10cc again: 1992–1995 After a nine-year break, Gouldman and Stewart resurrected 10cc for 1992's …Meanwhile album, which also featured performances by Godley, Creme and Gold. Three years later came the final album by the band, Mirror Mirror.

By then, the decades-long partnership between Gouldman and Stewart was apparently over: the pair each wrote and recorded six songs separately, in different countries, playing together on just one song, an acoustic reworking of "I'm Not in Love". Two co-written songs were written during the ...Meanwhile sessions.

The final album featured a song, "Ready to Go Home", written by Gouldman in memory of his father, poet and playwright Hymie Gouldman, who had died in 1991. It was later covered by Morten Harket (singer of the Norwegian pop group A-ha) on his 1995 debut solo album Wild Seed.

In an interview with the Jewish Telegraph, Gouldman spoke of his father's influence on his life and career:

During the late 1990s Gouldman wrote with a few different writers, including Paul Carrack on his minor 1997 hit "The Way I'm Feeling Tonight", and Kirsty MacColl on her final album Tropical Brainstorm in 2000.

Gouldman included a new version of "Ready to Go Home" on his 2000 solo album, And Another Thing.... On the liner notes of his solo album, he noted: "It reflects my feelings at the time. I suppose I was trying to put a positive slant on his passing, remembering all the things we had done together and his artistic legacy to me. The last verse of the song best reflects my feelings on this. This song has been recorded by many artists and remains one of my favourites. Very emotional." Gouldman regards the song as one of his favourites, explaining "It's quite emotional really. It was written a few years after my Dad passed away, and Andrew had lost his Dad, and we were talking about the legacies – what we're left with, what we're going to do and where we're going to go, and how we have to be accepting."

10cc featuring Graham Gouldman and Friends/Godley and Gouldman: 1999–present

Gouldman began touring as "10cc featuring Graham Gouldman and Friends", with his band comprising Rick Fenn, Paul Burgess, Mike Stevens and Mick Wilson. They first performed in 1999, at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Birmingham. After the release of his solo album, he got the lads back together to celebrate 30 years of 10cc in 2002, billed as "Graham Gouldman celebrates 30 years of 10cc".

In January 2004, he reconvened with Kevin Godley to write more songs. Godley described how he and Gouldman had "unfinished business", having only written "three pure, Godley-Gouldman songs". Gouldman said that he and Godley had stayed in touch, and that it was Godley's suggestion to write together.

In July 2006, Godley and Gouldman's website offered four downloadable tracks: "The Same Road", "Johnny Hurts", "Beautifulloser.com" and "Hooligan Crane". The songs are the initial 'offering' of a group of songs they have been working on over the past two years. During this period, Gouldman wrote the main riff in the McFly song "I've Got You".

Gouldman and Friends toured the UK in 2009, simply billed as "10cc". In August 2010, 10cc featuring Graham Gouldman headlined the Sunday bill at the Rhythm Festival.

While touring with 10cc Graham Gouldman formed an acoustic band named Heart Full of Songs aimed to perform acoustic versions of the songs throughout his career. The band took its first solo tour in 2013 and performs regularly ever since.

In February 2014, it was announced that Gouldman would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at the 45th annual induction ceremony which was held in New York on 12 June at the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

In 2017, a compilation album of music highlighting Gouldman as a songwriter was released under the name Listen People: The Graham Gouldman Songbook 1964–2005.

In 2018, Gouldman joined Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band on tour. In November 2019, he announced a new album titled Modesty Forbids featuring Ringo Starr, which was released in March 2020 on the British indie label Lojinx.

Discography Albums The Graham Gouldman Thing (1968) (USA) RCA Victor LPM-3954 (mono), LSP-3954 (stereo) Animalympics (1980) (USA) A&M SP-4580 (soundtrack) And Another Thing... (2000) Dome FLYCD14 Love and Work (2012) Wienerworld Modesty Forbids (2020) Lojinx Records I Have Notes (2024) Lojinx Records

EPs Play Nicely and Share (2017) Wienerworld, UK; WNRCD5102

with GG/06 GG/06: EP - 1 (2008)

with Graham Gouldman's Heart Full of Songs Graham Gouldman's Heart Full of Songs Xploded Music Limited (2022)

Singles Year Title Chart positions Album UK AUS NLD 1966 "Stop Stop Stop (or Honey, I'll Be Gone)" b/w "Better to Have Loved and Lost" – – – Non-album single 1968 "The Impossible Years" b/w "No Milk Today" – – – The Graham Gouldman Thing "Upstairs, Downstairs" b/w "Chestnut" – – – "Pamela, Pamela" b/w "For Your Love" – – – 1969 "Windmills of Your Mind" b/w "Harvey's Tune"(as The Graham Gouldman Orchestra) – – – Non-album singles 1972 "Nowhere to Go" b/w "Growing Older" – – – 1979 "Sunburn" 52 26 34 The Original Soundtrack Album From... Sunburn 1980 "Love's Not for Me (Rene's Song)" – – – Animalympics 2000 "Dancing Days" – – – And Another Thing... 2022"Floating in Heaven" (with Brian May) – – –Non-album single, later included on I Have Notes